Bitter Sweet

27. Reconciliation

          "What the hell happened to your face?" was the first thing Sergio had asked once Julio arrived home.

"My what?" Julio waked inside distractedly. He took his hoody off and threw it on the sofa, he stretched his arms and winced as his sore body resented him for the five extra hours he spent at the shop in attempt to avoid the inevitable broken heart Stephanie had left behind.

"Who hit you?" Sergio asked as he followed him into the kitchen.

"Oh, that," he replied running a hand on his bruised cheek, he had no idea Stephanie was capable of such strength. "Uh, I ran into a door."

"Who hit you?" Sergio repeated.

"The door." He opened the fridge and took a cold soda can, resting it on his cheek, the cold tin felt good on his inflamed face. "Where's mom?"

"She took Lorena Christmas shopping."

Julio nodded. "Why didn't you go with them?"

"Shopping is lame."

"Is that so?" Julio replied teasingly. He popped the soda open and took one long drink.

"Who hit you?"

"Jesus, Sergio, I told you I ran into the door."

Sergio watched him skeptically. "How stupid do you think I am?"

Julio shrugged. "Very stupid but that doesn't change the fact that a door hit me on the face."

Sergio nodded defeatedly. "Fine. It's not like I won't find out eventually." He pushed himself off the kitchen counter and left locking himself in his room.

Now that Julio was left alone, he sighed sadly and slumped on the couch. Replaying the scene over and over again in his head. He should have told her himself before she found out through who knows who. Maybe he could have avoided the slap.

He stood and walked up to the window, he wanted to go out there and confront her, but shame took over his mind. He was disgusting, wasn't he? As the moment was happening, as he fucked Natasha, he didn't feel any guilt, or shame. He didn't think much of it since at the end of the evening he would receive a big fat check. But, by the way Stephanie gazed at him, how angrily she screamed, he felt, dirty. He placed the can up to his face again. He understood why she didn't want to see him again, but it didn't make it hurt any less.

He had never suffered for a girl, never in his twenty six years of age. Now he felt like his heart had been trampled on and was now hanging by a string. It sounded ridiculous but that was how he felt. The knot in his throat made it so difficult for him to keep his composure, she had said she didn't want to see him again, and she sounded like she meant it, and it scared the shit out of him.

He couldn't go on if he wasn't going to see her. His mood for the rest of the day depended on seeing her. God, he fucked things up. He fucked things up bad.

He went to his studio like room and laid still in bed, Bob, sensing his sadness, laid beside him and rested his giant head on his chest. Julio looked up at the ceiling in deep thought. How could he make things better? How could he get her back and start with a clean slate? The sudden realization that there probably was no way he could start over with Stephanie dawned on him and breathing became such a difficult task.

Stephanie was a church girl, she grew up in a religious family which meant she held conservative views. And he knew that having sex for money was an unforgivable act for a potential partner. She would want, and with reason, someone better. Especially after going out with an asshole like Alex, and then finding out Julio was basically a hooker, well, it only made sense if her standards went even higher, in which Julio did not fit in anymore.